Chapter Four: Blood and Knives
Boots, check. Survival knife, check. Hunting Jacket, check. Backpack, check. Tiny candles, check. Weird oil that dad puts on you, check.
I must have run through this list dozens of times already, and yet I still feel agitated.
It's dawn, I didn't sleep, I couldn't. The mere thought of what will unfold today just makes me… restless.
Shen's sphere gave me vast knowledge about almost everything, from being a Lightbender to the beginning of the war. But even so, it feels… incomplete. Like I was only given a few pieces of a torn tapestry. I can see the pieces perfectly, but I can't see the whole, I can't see how everything's connected.
I'm afraid of what I might discover, yet I can't wait to find out what. Is it natural to feel both fear and excitement towards something? I'm scared to find out something gruesome about the past or the present for that matter. But still, it's trumped by the feeling of finally making sense out of everything.
For weeks I've been piecing every last bit of information together, Shion, the war, Sozin's comet, but the best I could do was guess. And it's been egging on me ever since, like an itch I just can't scratch. But today, it will all be answered, it has to be. And I'll have plenty of time till sunset to ask all the questions.
I have to make them count though, the winter solstice only happens once in a year. It's the only time when this world and the spirit world are in full sync. Of course, there's the summer solstice, but that's months away, and I can't possibly wait that long.
Also, meditation is the only way I can connect with the spirit world, and I'm not very flexible when it comes to that. The only place I've been able to do it was at the summit of Mount Yun where my father used to take me to. It's quiet there, serene, the only place I've ever felt at peace. But it takes about half a day to get there so I have to start early, but not too early that my family would suspect something. They have no knowledge of what's going on… yet.
I've thought about telling them, but what exactly was I going to say? "Hey Mom, Dad, Jubei, guess what! I'm a Lightbender and I'm going to war to protect The Avatar!"
They'd probably laugh at me. Well Jubei would, my father would probably kill me for making fun of the war, and my mother would just smile and ask if I'm feeling ok.
I could demonstrate Lightbending… if I still had it. I lost the ability to control light just a few days after I got it. Well, it's not exactly lost, just somehow locked inside me, only I'm missing the key. It's another reason why I'm dying to get things started.
Dawn breaks and soon I hear the whimsy footsteps of my brother, followed by my mother's light and graceful ones. As usual, I don't hear my father's. He doesn't get up until about noon on Sundays, which is perfect, because if I told him I'd be going to Mount Yun, he'd want to tag along. And I'd rather not have anyone with me. This is my calling, my responsibility; I have to take this path on my own.
I head downstairs and immediately bump into my brother.
"Watch it!" he says. "You bumped into me, moron" I say, and then I flick him on his forehead.
"Whatever, I'm going back to bed." he replies as he goes back upstairs.
His senses dull. Anyone could sneak up on him without even trying. It's both a bad thing and a good thing, well good for me. It's something I've exploited throughout the years that has brought me incredible amounts of joy, and also his fear of monkey-like creatures.
I grin and step into the kitchen where my mother is preparing breakfast.
"Good morning, Tenkuu. Want some eggs?" She says without even turning around.
Unlike Jubei, my mother is as sharp as razorblade. Nothing can get by her unnoticed. Even the slightest hint can set her off. It must be the Waterbending training. Then again, she is training Jubei and he's oblivious to most of the world, so it must be something else.
"Looks like we'll be the only ones eating…" I tell her.
"Oh, well then, like the usual…" then she smiles.
She is right of course. Almost every Sunday morning we'd be the only ones out of bed early, so we get to chat, just the two of us. And she's an absolute delight to talk to, smart and funny at the same time, it's no wonder my father left the Fire Nation for her. And it's probably the reason why I'm so much closer to her than anyone in my family, or any other person for that matter.
She sets down a plate of eggs on the table and takes a seat.
"Eat up!" she says with a smile.
I grab some bread and sit down to eat. A few seconds later I notice that my mother has been staring at me for some time. But before I could mouth anything off, she leans in closer and asks:
"Something wrong, Ten?"
Damn. It's probably my droopy eyes, or the obvious restlessness on my face that set her off. I have to think of something, fast.
"Nothing, I just didn't get much sleep last night." I reply
That should suffice. And I didn't even have to lie, I didn't get much sleep last night, I didn't sleep at all.
"Because of what happened in town yesterday?" she adds.
That's right, I told her about that. I couldn't really hide it; she always tends to Nekko after she comes home from a trip, my mother is as attached to Nekko as I am. And last night, she discovered her wounds from the fight. As she healed Nekko's legs, I told her everything. We agreed to keep it a secret from my father since we both know how he would react to me getting into a fight, especially with Earth Kingdom "military".
"Yeah" I reply. And it's not much of a lie either. As much as I tried to stop rationalizing, I still couldn't help thinking that maybe I didn't give diplomacy much of a shot, that maybe I could have avoided a conflict if I was smarter, more charismatic, like my mother.
I've always hated conflict. I try to avoid it when I can, and I usually succeed. But those that I couldn't, ended up in brawls, or worse. I'm afraid that one day something just snaps inside me, and what happened that night would happen again. But I won't let it, not again, not while I'm on this mission.
"Well you shouldn't feel bad. You did the right thing." She says "Those soldiers were nothing more but bullies. You can't let bullies push you over and have their way all the time. Someone had to stand up to them, teach them a lesson." She pauses for a second and adds.
"I would have done the same… And for that, I'm proud of you."
And just like that, all my anxiety seemed to just fly away. This is one of the reasons why I love my mother so much, she always knows what to say. Even her lectures are inspiring. I wouldn't know what to do without her.
"Thanks, mom, you have no idea how much I needed that…"
"Anything for my little man." She says, again with a smile.
And I couldn't help but smile as well. But I have to start moving, or I'm going to miss my window.
I tell her that I'm heading for Mount Yun to meditate. She stops for a while, like she's trying to analyze something.
"Oh, should I wake your father?" she asks.
"No! I mean, I-I think I'm old enough to go there by myself. I'll be back before dark, I promise"
Again, she pauses, analyzing my response like some kind of interrogator. Could she know? Impossible, she's good, but not that good. Then again, I've never kept a secret from her until now, I haven't had much experience.
I wait for her to ask me what's really going on and I start thinking of excuses, all of them were horrible, my mother would see right through them. If she does ask, I'm doomed to cave in.
But instead she smiles asks if I was going to take Nekko with me.
"No, she's not fully healed yet. She's had enough adventuring for now. I'll be fine on my own, I swear." I answer.
"Alright… You best get a move on if you want to get home before dark. It's a half-day hike you know. "
"Y-Yeah, I know. I better go get my things then." I reply and quickly run upstairs.
What was that? I know she suspects something, but she's letting me go. Is she up to something? I'm confused. This is definitely one of the down sides of having a wise and highly intelligent mother. I can never really tell what her intentions are. But I don't need to worry about that right now, I'm just glad she didn't try to stop me.
I put on my boots and jacket, grab my pack and head back down pass the kitchen.
"Tenkuu"
Damn… Maybe I spoke too soon.
"For the road" she says, and then throws me a satchel.
I catch it and look inside. It's half filled with fruits and dried meat.
How could I have forgotten about food? It's supposed to be on top of the list. I guess the lack of sleep had something to do with it.
"Don't forget to restock that on your trip, we're running a little low. Get some nice flowers too if you can." She says enthusiastically.
She's not only letting me go, she's giving me food for it and an extra assignment. Could this be what she was thinking of earlier? Use your son to get free produce from the mountain?
Am I over thinking this? I'm even more confused than I was earlier…
"I will. And probably get some Plumberries too." I reply. It's not really necessary, since we have a garden full of them, but the ones from the mountain strangely taste better than the ones we grow, and I had to say something to break off the tension with something other than silence.
I hate lying to my mother, mostly because she's a diabolical genius.
She smiles and I smile back, then she starts cleaning the kitchen.
My mother sure does smile a lot. There hasn't been a day in my life that I didn't get to see her smile. She's a very happy person. Which is a surprise considering what she's been through in her life. But maybe that's why she's so happy. After all the suffering and loss the war has brought her, she now lives a peaceful life with a family who loves her as much as she loves them. Although, very soon her eldest will be going into war, and I'm afraid the peaceful life she has grown accustomed to all these years will start to get less peaceful as time passes by.
But first, her eldest must find the answers to the questions that have been bothering him for weeks.
I do a last run of my checklist as I open the front door.
The sunrise is beautiful, but something else grabs my attention. A girl, weary and tired, liked she had been up all night stands on our doorstep. She looks up, and I recognize her immediately.
"Takai! What are you doing here?"
"Tenkuu, you have to help me! You're the only one I know who can!" She pleads.
"What's wrong? What happened" I ask.
She then proceeds to ramble about numerous things, most of which I couldn't make sense of. All I got was her mother didn't come home yesterday; no one has seen her at all, and something about pumpkins.
I think I got the gist of it, but she's still going.
"Takai, slow down. I think I get it." I say.
She stops talking, but she's still shaking. She's obviously been out all night. I take off my hunting jacket and wrap it around her. Her shaking seems to lessen but her body is still trembling, so I guide her inside the house to warm up.
"Did you walk all the way here?" I ask her.
She nods.
My mother comes out from the kitchen carrying a bucket of water and tells me to "fix it up" for her. Our code for: heat it with Firebending. I take it and step into the kitchen out of Takai's sight and "fix it up" until it steams a little. I take the bucket back to my mother and set it down. She then dips a towel in it and puts it on Takai's forehead.
Luckily, she has no fever. But still, she's been up all night, Takai needs to get some rest.
"Stay here for now, Takai, you need rest. I'll go look for Old Hem." I say.
But just as I was about to leave, she grabs tightly onto my arm.
"No, I'm fine. I'm coming with you."
She then stands and puts on a serious face, something I have never seen from such a delicate flower like Takai, totally unexpected.
"You've done your part, now you should just stay here and rest."
But she doesn't let go, instead she looks at me with an intense gaze, so determined, so unwavering. Takai might be a gentle kind of girl, but she's not one to give up, especially on her mother.
"I'm coming with you." She firmly utters.
She's not letting go of me that much is certain. I wait for my mother to intervene, but she just sits there, observing. She either agrees with her or she's wants me to get Takai to back down on my own, an argument I'm not exactly winning.
"Takai, you're exhausted. You-"
"I'm fine! I came here to ask for help, not to just lie here while my mother is out there missing!"
Again, I'm taken by surprise. I had never heard Takai yell at anyone before, let alone at me. She's always been the type who just listens to conversations and casually laughs at some jokes. I feel like I'm seeing an entirely new side of her. Is this really the same girl who's afraid of dragonflies simply because of their name?
"Takai…" I say with her unwavering gaze still locked at me.
"What if it was your mother, Tenkuu? Wouldn't you want to do everything you can just to find her?" Her voice cracks and I can see tears running down from her eyes. What would I do if it was my own mother who was missing?
I turn to my mother and the answer comes to me in a heartbeat.
Anything…
And no one, not even the most powerful person in the world could stop me.
"Alright then" I say "Let's not waste any more time."
She lets go of me, wipes her tears away and smiles. "Thank you" she whispers.
My mother just gives me a nod and tells us to be careful.
We step outside and I see the sun slowly rising from the mountains. Then I remember what I'm really supposed to be doing right now. I ask myself, what's more important. The thing that could influence and possibly end the war that has been going on for a century or finding a friend's missing mother?
I didn't have to think hard to know the answer to that. I stop in my tracks and Takai turns to me.
"Tenkuu, what's wrong?" she asks
"Takai, listen."
She gives me a worried look.
"Your mother… She's been gone for a while…"
"Yeah..." She responds with a hint of fear in her voice.
I take a deep breath and sigh.
"Time is already against us… That means…" I say reluctantly.
Her face turned from worried to afraid, and then to surprised when I turned to my left and whistled.
And from the yard, a tiger-dog charges and tackles me to the ground.
"Easy, girl!" I tell Nekko.
She gets off and sits beside me, wagging her tail. I dust myself off and look back at Takai.
"We're going to need a faster form of transportation… Care for a ride?" I say to her.
At first she seemed reluctant, but then she put her brave face on again and approached Nekko.
They've known each other since Nekko was a little cub, so she's not afraid of her. But Takai has been known to freak out when she rides animals. It's probably the reason why she walked all the way here from town. We don't have a choice on that matter though. If we want to find Old Hem we're going to have to work fast, and riding is definitely faster than walking.
"You scared me there for a bit." She says to me.
"You shouldn't have been, Nekko does that to me every time."
"No, not that." She adds. "I thought for a second you changed your mind about helping me."
And she was right; I did, for a second. But if my "destiny" stands in the way of helping the people I care about, then it's not the destiny I want for myself.
"I wouldn't dream of it" I reply.
"But you were heading somewhere, right? Carrying a pack like that, and your jacket, going hunting?" she asks.
"Something like that." I say as I climb on Nekko. Thankfully I left the saddle on last night.
"Let's go" I gesture my arm at Takai.
"Oh, alright." She says and takes my hand "How do you- woah!"
I could have gone gentler and let her climb up, but pulling her up was much faster.
Nekko moans as Takai lands on her back. This is exactly why I was hesitant earlier. Her legs are still slightly injured, and this little field trip might take its toll on her. But I don't have a choice. I turn to her and whisper: "I'm sorry, girl. I know your legs still hurt, but I need you to do me a favor, just this once."
She looks back at me and purrs. I rubbed her head a little then slapped her on the side and off we went. Takai seems to be having some trouble balancing herself, and I could tell from her eyes that she's trying to contain her screams.
"Just grab on to me and you'll be fine." I tell her.
And without hesitation she wraps her arms around me so tight I couldn't breathe for a second. Her body's so pressed against mine that I can hear her heart beating from my back, and it's beating fast, she must be terrified.
"So, where are we heading first?" I ask.
"T-The p-pumpkin patch outside of town, that's where she said she was going." She replies.
I know that place. That's where I got in trouble for stuffing Jubei's head into a pumpkin. The owner knows me, he's an old friend. And you never forget a kid who shoves his brother's head into your produce and gets one in the face in retaliation.
But I was curious why Takai didn't go there first. It's certainly closer than our house. So I ask her about it. Turns out she did go there, but apparently the owner didn't know anything. Something I found suspicious. I think I'll have a chat with him myself, just to be sure. But if all else fails, I'm hoping Nekko could pick up Old Hem's trail from there.
We arrive at the pumpkin patch much faster than I expected. I get off and let Nekko sniff around as I head towards the owner sweeping his porch.
"Wait! Don't leave me here!" Takai frantically says to me.
"You'll be fine, just grab on the saddle. I'm going to have a talk with the owner." I say.
"Can you hurry? Please…" she lets out a faint squeal as she hugs the saddle with her entire body.
I'm already in a hurry. I figured that if we find Old Hem soon enough I'd still have time to get to the summit before sundown. That way, I get both done without sacrificing either. Like an old earthbender once said "Two birds, one stone".
The owner takes attention of me and looks my way. And at one glance he knew who I was.
"Pumpkinhead!" He yells out.
"Actually, I'm Pumpkinhead's brother, Squashface." I jokingly reply.
"Of course! Hehehe…" He then grabs my shoulder and looks at me from head to toe.
We might not have seen each other much through the years, especially since my father banned Jubei and I from his farm, but Mr. Ping has always been my friend. Maybe it's his pleasant attitude or the mutual joy we find in pranking people that made that possible.
"My, you've grown…" He sighs out.
"It has been a while, sir." I say
His expression changes from happy to something I've only seen once from him. It's the same heavy and tortured expression he had when Jinu, his only son, went into war years ago. Jinu always called my father "sir", and every time I hear the word I always remember him. It must be the same for Mr. Ping. I feel I may have made him start worrying again, I should not have said that.
"So, what brings you here at this hour, Tenkuu?" he says, shrugging off the pain in his eyes.
"I'm looking for someone, a woman, middle-aged, graying hair. Her name's Hema, but we call her Old Hem. Seen anyone like that lately?" I reply.
Mr. Ping pauses for a second, and scratches his beard. The same way he does when he tries to come up with a prank. Something I've seen often enough to know exactly what's going to happen.
He's about to lie.
"No, not really. Sorry."
Lie. Definitely a lie. But I have to buy into it for now. If I confront him he's just going to ditch the question and make up an excuse to leave.
"Anyone ask about her lately?" I say.
Again, he's scratching his beard, a dead giveaway. It's like he's lost his touch. This can't be the master of tricks and deception who I, as a child, looked up to.
"Well there was this girl last night… But I told her the same thing. Is she your friend?"
Not a lie. That can't be right. Maybe he wasn't lying earlier. Maybe it was just him trying to remember. Or he was, but now he isn't because he noticed he gave off a clue and he's throwing me off. No, he's not that clever. Or is he? Am I over thinking again? Sometimes I think I cause my own headaches.
But that aside, I still have to know the truth. I could use the sympathy card on him, just to certain.
"Yeah, Old Hem's her mother. Takai was up all night looking for her. She's depressed and she's refusing to take a break until her mother has been found."
He peeks behind me and points. "Is that her?"
I turn around and say "Yes that's h-"
My jaw drops as I witness the girl, who just a few minutes ago nearly crushed me from terror, laughing while she jumps over pumpkins riding the same tiger-dog she dared not to ride.
"Tenkuu! Check this out! I'm riding Nekko and I don't feel like passing out or anything!" she yells out.
I awkwardly smile at Mr. Ping as I try to think of something else to make him talk.
"Well, at least something got her mind of it… eh-hehe"
That was horrible! Why did I say that? Now he thinks I'm lying.
If I was my mother I would have gotten a straight answer with the first question. It's a wonder how she does it so easily; she's a natural at this. I on the other hand, have no people skills.
"G-Good for her then." He says with a hint of guilt in his voice with a matching sleeve scratch, another dead giveaway.
Now I'm certain he knows something, and I don't have time to play with words. The sympathy card is surprisingly working; I'll just have to go with it. I break off the smile and sigh.
"I know there's something you're not telling me, Mr. Ping."
He scoffs and tries to ditch out, just as I predicted. But I'm not leaving without a straight answer.
I place my hand on his shoulder and tell him about Takai's father who went to war, just like his son. Takai's an only child; she has no other relatives in these areas, just her parents. I met her father a few times when I was a kid, he was a nice man, and Takai and Old Hem really love him. He was what made them feel safe, their guardian, their "rock". But when he went away, they only had each other to keep them strong.
As I tell the story, I realize why Takai was so frantic. Her mother is all she has left. If she loses her too… I can't even think about what would happen, what she'd do.
Mr. Ping starts sobbing. Probably because he could relate, except he's the father, and it's his son who left for war. I don't know which one is worse though. Both are completely horrible. It's another reason why I want to end this war.
"Please, do it for her." I say.
He wipes his tears away and clears his throat.
"I'm sorry if I lied. It's just… she threatened to kill me, and my wife if I talked. A-And I couldn't risk that. She even gave me some money to keep quiet."
"Who did?" I ask.
"A tall woman, long brown hair, with a tattoo of a snake on her neck, goes by the name Narra."
He digs into his pocket and hands over a knife.
"It's her knife. She dropped it here yesterday." He says
The inscription on the sheath says Narra. It could be a name, but there is a tree named like that, and the sheath is wooden. But even if it's not her name, the knife will suffice, Nekko can track her with it. But we have to start now or we'll end up losing her trail.
I look back at Nekko and Takai who are quite enjoying themselves with the pumpkins.
"Takai! We got a lead! Let's go." I shout out.
Takai then commands Nekko to change direction with such ease; I can hardly believe she was ever afraid of riding at all.
I let Nekko sniff the knife then I put it in my pocket.
"Thank you, Mr. Ping. She won't know anything about this. You'll be safe, I promise" A promise I intend to keep, no matter the cost.
"You remind me of him, you know…" he says.
"Of who?" I ask.
"Jinu." He replies "Always going out of his way to help people. It's the reason why he joined the war in the first place, to help everyone by ending it."
He chokes up for a bit and then chuckles.
"It's kind of ironic if you ask me, but I don't see any other options either."
He bows his head and starts crying. I couldn't hold myself any longer. I give him a big long hug, something I think he's needed for quite a while now.
"Don't worry." I say "Haven't you heard? The Avatar's back, this war's as good as over."
Then he smiles, but it wasn't an ordinary smile, there was something special to it, something good. And I could tell he'd started hoping again.
I get on and Nekko immediately jolts forward and sends us on our way. For a while she loops around in a circle, but then heads directly for the town.
Takai seems calmer this time. She's still hanging on to me, but she's enjoying the ride. I still can't fathom how she went from being a phobic to a natural rider.
She notices me glancing at her and asks why. I ask her how she managed to do what she did.
"Learn to face your fears. And the results might surprise you…" something her father once said to her.
And they did, even I was surprised.
Takai keeps proving me wrong today. First was her unrelenting dedication to find her mother, then it was her new found assertiveness, and now, she's overcome one of her greatest fears. The image of the shy, helpless little girl that I once pictured her to be is now but a memory.
But even so, something does still bother me…
Why did she choose to go to me for help? She knows other people who live closer, and who are a lot more capable than I am, like Tora. Why choose to seek help from the boy who just yesterday she couldn't look straight in the eye in? The one who I assumed she was afraid of.
Should I ask her? I don't think so, not yet. She's in a nice mood for once today and I don't want to ruin that. Maybe when this is all over, I might. And by the rate of how things are going, that's soon.
Nekko stops at the town square and goes one direction after another, stopping then pulling back. Finally, she just stands and moans.
"What's wrong, Nekko?" Takai jumps down and stokes Nekko's head.
"She's stumped" I say "Nara's scent must be all around this place, Nekko doesn't know where to go."
Takai looks to me and asks what we should do next.
"The only thing we can do, we split up and ask around…" I reply.
For hours we went around the square, asking anyone from merchants to passer-bys if they'd seen a woman with a snake neck tattoo, but nothing turned up.
It's noon, if we don't find her soon, I won't be able to make it to Mount Yun in time. I'm starting to get frustrated, and the beating sun isn't helping to cool me down either.
I lie down on Nekko under the shade and try to clear out the rage that has been nestling inside me for a while now. Takai comes back and asks if I found any leads.
"No, nothing. You?" I reply.
She shakes her head and lies down next to me. The pleasant mood she was in earlier was gone, replaced by the same frustrated expression that I have. I'm starting to feel Takai's strength fading away. Even with her brave face on I can tell that she's starting to lose hope, but I have nothing else up my sleeve. Nekko can't track the tattooed woman; she's obviously spent a lot of time around the square recently and her scent is all over the place. And we would encounter the same problem if we try to track Old Hem.
I could abandon the search now and head for the Mount Yun.
Cut my loses…
No. I'm not giving up on Old Hem, and I'm certainly not giving up on Takai. She's done and braved through too much to fail now. I just have to think of something… But I'm fresh out of ideas, there are only so few ways to track a person, well, those that I've been taught. I just… I don't want to give up.
We both stare into the clouds, hoping for some miracle to happen. Maybe an epiphany will fall out from the sky or something.
And to my surprise, something does, not an epiphany that's for sure, but a wooden roof tile. It drops and right after, a woman in a hood does. She rolls forward to absorb the fall and her hood falls back revealing her long brown hair and a red snake tattoo on her neck.
"Hey!" I shout out.
She takes notice for a moment then looks up and starts to run. I get on Nekko and Takai immediately climbs up. "Follow her, girl!" Then Nekko leaps into a run after the woman.
She's quick, and smart, swerving through alleys and running pass groups of people. But she keeps looking up, not at us. I look up and find a man, medium built, wearing light clothing and armed with a set of knives, running through the rooftops. Obviously this chase started even before we joined in, but no one's going to get in my way, not this guy, not these twisting alleys. She's mine.
She makes a break for the stables near the market. A mistake, since I know that place like the inside of my house. We break off her trail and go straight forward. Nekko hesitates for a second, but I think she gets what I'm trying to do.
"She went that way, Tenkuu!" Takai yells out.
"I know! Trust me, this is a shortcut… I think."
We close into the edge of the road and Nekko jumps right in the middle of the intersection. And right after, the woman slams into her body and gets knocked back to the ground. She won't be getting up anytime soon. Now for her pursuer...
The man jumps down into a roll from the roof and walks up to me.
"Thanks for the assist, kid. I owe you one." He says.
I step in front of him and he stares at me with a soul piercing gaze. It doesn't faze me though, and I return the favor. I've stared death in the face once already; this pathetic gawk is nothing.
"Hold it." I say. "I get to talk to her first."
That sounded a lot less aggravating in my head. It came off as more of the threat than a request. But with time against me and someone's life on the line, I can't afford to play around and be nice.
"Right, and why should I do that?" he replies.
"You owe one, remember?"
And the stare match continued. Both of us locked into each other's eyes, unflinching, without even a blink. Then he breaks off and smirks.
"Go ahead then." He says "But I'll be watching you."
"Not a problem, I'll be quick." I say
I drag the woman's body to the nearest alley and stand her up next to the wall.
Her eyes start to open but I notice something else that's moving. With a quick motion, I deflect her attack and take the knife she intended to plunge into my back. Takai almost had a heart attack but I tell her that I'm fine and she sighs in relief. The man just smirks some more.
I take the same knife she used against me and angle it next to her neck as I push her against the wall. She looks at me and scoffs.
"What are you gonna do with that knife, pretty boy?"
"That's up to you." I reply.
She sneers at me and looks toward the man who was chasing her then looks back to me.
"Well I'm sure I haven't met you before… What do you want from me? My services, or my… other services?" she says with the most alluring voice.
"I'm looking for someone, a woman; you met her yesterday, her name's Hema. Where is she?" I say.
She squints at me, then turns to Takai and smirks.
"Let me guess, she's her mother. I could never mistake family resemblances." She says.
This woman is wasting my time, and I'm getting impatient. I have to speed this up somehow. But she still thinks we're playing a game. That'll change soon enough.
"Tell me where she is…" I say as I press the knife closer to her neck.
"Or what? You'll kill me? That guy over there, he wants me alive. He's not gonna let that happen."
"Is that so?" Then I start to slice some of the skin on her neck.
She flinches and her expression towards me changes. She knows now that I'm not up to playing games. I have no real intention of killing her though; I just have to make her believe that I do. And with the growing frustration showing through my face that's not going to be a problem.
"He's going to kill you…" she sneers at me.
He probably will, but since I'm not really going to kill her, that won't be a problem. Still, I have to make seem like I don't give a damn either way. I push the knife even closer, slicing some more of her skin. She cringes and I can see some of her blood running down to her chest.
"Not if I kill him first…" I say.
She seems to laugh at the idea, but then she reads the expression on my face. And suddenly I can sense fear in her, like she finally realizes she's about to die. She's not of course, but that's exactly what I want her to feel.
"Y-You're serious…" she stammers.
"Maybe you should take a look at your neck and tell me." I say, in the most intimidating way I can.
And with that, I had her.
She starts to spill everything. The warehouse heist they attempted; and how she convinced Old Hem to be their decoy in exchange for a specific crate that was inside.
"You're lying! There's no way my mother would agree to something like that!" Takai shouts out.
"Well she did, honey. And it didn't even take much. She was desperate."
Desperate? Desperate for what? What could Old Hem be so desperate for to agree to thievery? Of course she could be lying, although I can't really think of a reason why, not when she's in this situation.
Now I know what happened, but the most important part is still missing. I ask her again where Old Hem is. She rolls her eyes and sighs.
"I don't know."
Then, something ticked inside me. I start to get angrier, and the urge to kill her comes to me. I slide the knife even more and she grunts in pain as blood oozes out from her wound. I glance at her neck to check if I didn't do anything fatal… Then I see her blood.
So red and so thick… And there's a lot of it, a lot for just a simple cut. Luckily it doesn't seem life endangering. It's starting to scare me, fortunately it doesn't show. I take a deep breath and continue to play the remorseless, bloodletting teenager.
"Don't play with me! You were in charge of that operation!" I yell.
She bites her lip, probably trying to contain the pain then fixes her raging eyes at mine.
"Yeah, and it was bust!" she growls. "That's why that guy's after me! I failed the guild!"
Guild… I should have known she was a member of the thieves' guild. The hood, the secrecy, the running through roofs, all telltale signs of a thief… or an assassin. But she's not assassinating anyone, which is good for her, seeing that she's being held at knifepoint by a teenager.
Failing the guild must be a grave offense, but I don't care. All I care about is getting Old Hem back. Even if she doesn't know where she is, I could still piece things together if I get enough details.
"How exactly did you fail?" I say.
"Really? Are you actually rubbing this in?" she snidely comments.
That might have been a poor choice of words. Actually, when I think about it, that was kind of funny, but there's no time for jokes. I tell her that if she tells me all she can remember she'll be free to go, figuratively, the guy from the guild is still going to take her.
She rolls her eyes at me again then agrees just to get it over with.
The thief describes the layout of the warehouse, from its vast inventory space to the security outside. Intent to convince me that the failed heist wasn't her fault, she blames it on one of her "guys", saying that "the newbie was a complete idiot."
Her failure doesn't concern me and I have no time to talk about it. I tell her to talk more about the security and she tells me she remembers something odd about the guards, depicting them as "worn-out" and "looked like they were in a fight".
And with that, I now know exactly where Old Hem is. I push myself back and throw down the knife.
"Take her." I say to the man.
He ties her arms and legs then covers the neck wound with a red cloth.
"You're really something, kid. Would be really handy to have someone like you in the guild" he says.
"Sorry, not interested." I reply.
I run back to Takai and Nekko on the other side of the alley. Takai meets me halfway and stops right in front of me. She's looking down and her shoulders are hunched. Without warning, she pounds my chest with her fists repeatedly.
"You almost gave me a heart attack, Tenkuu!"
What is she doing? Is this another one of those social gestures? I don't really get why she's hitting me, but I do know that she's concerned. I guess I should say something.
But before I could another voice yells at me from behind.
"That farmer's as good as dead, pretty boy!"
Damn it. I forgot that I'm not the only one who can piece ideas together. She must have finally made the connection. No matter, I anticipated this.
I turn back to her and dig my right hand into my pocket.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I say
"Right, because you just conveniently tracked me down with your tiger-dog" she replies.
I take out the knife Mr. Ping gave me and wave it around.
"Actually, yeah, we did…" I say as I throw the knife at her. "…Narra"
She lowers her head and swears. If her hands weren't tied back she might have facepalmed on herself. The guy gags her and carries her on his shoulders.
Good riddance, Narra, if that is her name, I'm still not sure.
I turn back and tell Takai that we should head off. She hesitates for a second, like she wants to tell me something, but then she lets it go and walks with me. I climb up Nekko and help Takai get on.
"Where are we going?" she asks.
I slap Nekko on the side and reply.
"To prison…"