[Han & Open] Scent of Night

[Karura Kotoko]

“The night is dark and full of terrors.” The words rung through her mind as she descended old steps cracked of time, somewhere within a building with no lights. Moonlight filtered through worn blinds, lighting her sharp eyes as she passed the broken window, a waft of cool night air refreshing her mind. She couldn’t decide if that had been a warning from a friend or an implied threat from an enemy no matter how many times she replayed the scenario which had brought them up in her mind. The older man’s tone, posture, gestures, the shine in his eyes, they could easily be taken both ways, depending on the personality that organized his mind and she hadn’t known him more than a night.

Somewhat uneasy, she looked behind before drawing the door open. The air inside the abandoned building was thick with dust and smelled of rot. The perfect meeting place in the dead of night? Perhaps so. Deciding no one had followed her down, swift as a shadow and quiet as hunted cat in dark, she pressed out of the building, closing the door behind her gently and throwing the hood of her cloak up. Even the street outside smelled foul, the realm of beggars and other useless sort. Running her gloved hands one over the other she began to walk, eyes on the path and ears on her surroundings, ignoring her own boots’ quiet trot. Karura didn’t wish to be seen in this neighborhood and especially not at night.

As she was wrapped away in shadows, quite a generous distance behind her, someone sat. Patiently waiting for a precise distance to be had, the two men quietly waited, their breath slow and steady, not a move coming from their spot. When the moment came they sprung to life, starting to walk, quick and quiet, skillfully so as they wove their way around corners and pursued. It wasn’t until they were rather close, just behind the bend she had passed, that Karura began to feel a touch of anxiety, mixed with some thrill, for a reason she knew not. Someone could be following her, or she could just be paranoid, as the cat that darted away from her path and didn’t stop running until it became out of sight.

[Chen Han Wei]

As usual, Han performed his nightly obligations, skipping, jumping, and flipping from rooftop to rooftop with seemingly inhuman acrobatics. Stoic with his demeanor and precise with his movements, the ebony clad phantom bolted across and above the city, existing outside of human senses and perception. His raven coloured hair, wrapped in a tight pony-tail, hung freely behind him, blending in almost perfectly with the surrounding darkness. For days he remained suited in light armour, for his inherent paranoia seemed to have gotten out of hand more than usual. His combat sandalled feet ripped across layers of roof tiles, yet, each progressing step amounted to nothing less than complete silence. His focus, during those hours, were dedicated to cleansing republic city's streets of any impurities.

Clearing gaps between buildings with ease in single leaps and bounds, seeing any and all possible activities beneath him was -without a doubt- no simpler than breathing. Because of his physical activity, he noticed not one, but two suspicious figures roaming about with the sort of pace that would have alarmed even the dullest of minds. Their movements for smooth, for sure, however, when hitting corners, they were jerky and agitated, desperately so. As a beast amongst men and a predator amongst prey, he knew that they hadn't been running from something, but rather pursuing it. Filling with hidden interest, Han pursued them from above in a parallel fashion. Roughly 15 meters above ground-level, such a height provided Han with the ability to look ahead at whomever it may have been that the two were following. From the diagonal-like angle he viewed the hooded figure from, Han knew it'd been much too early to have ushered in any kind of certainty regarding the persons identity or gender for that matter.

"Hm. Just what are they up to."

Never to quick to react, Han merely continued to trail the two suspects from above, observing their every move with the keenest of senses as he maintained his patience.

[Karura Kotoko]

Karura walked quickly, deliberately suspicious of the flickering shadows she could occasionally spot from the corner of one eye. The pale mood was swallowed by a cloud, further deepening the darkness on her path, making it harder to tell what lye just beyond her perception. It was hard to believe that someone would have known of their meeting, unless there was a traitor in their midst. Already flipping through the potential candidates in her mind she passed a lamp post, briefly bathing herself in street light, hoping to urge some action out of her pursuer by offering a clear shot.

But nothing happened. Striding on, eyes on an all too familiar bend, she resolved to lose the tail when she passed it. Just beyond the curve was a tight alley, on the side of the wall a small window barred with planks, but not too tightly, long ago having been loosened for quick use to those who knew where to look. An escape route through the sewer, while not the most appealing, would be the more effective. You could get easily lost down there and she knew how to navigate it, having found some years ago how easy it made getting places, even those you weren’t supposed to go snooping into.

As she lived through her plan she neglected to pay attention to the fence she was passing. Just beyond a score of bushes in bloom with tiny white flowers, a winter wolf, a rather adequate pet to have in this neighborhood, stayed quiet and watchful, just waiting until she reached his level. When her cloak swept by the bars where he lay crouched, the canine leaped up, his massive paws colliding firmly with the fence, making it clatter violently as he let free a seething snarl. Startled and effectively distracted, she recoiled from the beast.

It was at the same time that the two men acted, with impressive speed, one of them drawing up a heavy rock, chipped from the faulty sidewalk. He had flicked his wrist just once and then made some movements with his fingers, directing the rock straight at her head and preparing to launch it.

[Chen Han Wei]

Prowling, Han continued to race from roof to roof above the two pursuers, watching every movement they made as if he'd been some kind of ubiquitous deity. At first glance, Han looked to be a seeker of justice, chasing two assailants who were aggressively pursuing what appeared to be a helpless citizen. However, such had not been the case; Han had no intention on just stopping the two shadowy figures, nay, instead, he decided from the very beginning that he'd seize all three. None were truly innocent unless proven to be so, and that alone warranted the capture of the entire group. He wished not to harm them unless forced to, but rather obtain knowledge of their story to separate the guilty and the innocent. Nevertheless, he continued on, watching both the fleeing figure and the two that trailed some distance behind, seemingly desperate in their pursuit.

Suddenly, the howling of an animal shocked the fleeing silhouette as they bolted in its direction. Startled and confused, they became outstandingly vulnerable. Unfortunately, the one of the two pursuers noticed this and decided to take action. Thereafter, the ground below crackled to life, uplifting a slab of earth as said person concurrently aimed it towards their soon-to-be victim. A simple flick of their wrist sent the block of earth zooming towards its intended target. Unfortunately, for the two, victory did not come, nor did blood. Two, simultaneous crushing sounds thrummed throughout the alleyways, giving away that the mans attack hit something - but what? Only the most skilled and well trained eyes would have been able to dissect and made sense of what happened and why the fleeing person remained unharmed.

Moments prior, a quick swell of energy within Han's calves followed by a simple leap carried him down in front of the speeding rock. Having seized his sword mid-jump, a heavenwards slash split the rock into two pieces right through its center. The two pieces veered off to the left and right and crashed into the ground some few meters behind Han, leaving minuscule tremors in its wake. With the light pole at his back, the forefronts of his body -to the pursuers- could have only been described as black, obsidian-eyed demon. Landing in a crouch, Han's head whipped up to look upon the two men that stood before him with cold and calculating eyes. Without even a second to spare, his body followed suit and came to a full stand with his feet separated shoulder length apart. As his raven coloured hair settled, the right hand that seized his ninjaken came to rest diligently at his side.

"I'll say this only once, surrender now or prepare yourselves for the "worst case scenario"."

Considering he stood roughly 3 meters across from the earth-bender, Han knew that the two recieved his message, however, heeding said message had been left to their own discretion.

[Karura Kotoko]

The two men, one green eyed wrapped in robes of the darkest grey, and the other fair and shocked and orange eyed in his midnight blue suit stared at the dark clad apparition that had so successfully prevented their attack. A fair distance behind Han, recovering from the presence of the wolf, Karura turned around, her eyes taking in the strange sight, somewhat illuminated by the dim street light. A figure seemed to be facing two others, for some reason that must have passed in her brief distraction, his stance firm but not immediately hostile.

Han spoke and the two before him gave each other a certain look, immediately leaping into opposite directions and becoming positioned for attack. They didn’t answer, they didn’t so much as breathe louder, although one of them seemed clearly alarmed, his eyes staring at Han’s general presence as a small predator facing a much larger one, uncertain between fight or flight, right now settled on freeze. This was supposed to be a tail job tonight, capture if the opportunity arose, not some spontaneous fight. Regardless, in a few moments from their separation, the more confident one, the earthbender, pulled his elbows back hard, fists clenching and then pushed them up. This would cause the earth underneath Han to rise up in a massive column.

After the earthbender acted, the scared one trembled with anticipation, his fists brought up to send forth flying fire comets if and where Han would leap out of the way of his companion’s first attack. He would have been able to manage a couple of attacks too, until he needed to dodge from the path of an incoming dagger. Karura had assessed the situation, had almost taken the fortuitous opportunity to escape and let the others have their fight, but two on one was hardly fair now was it?

The wide road had become a confusing battle ground.

[Chen Han Wei]

Through years of constant battle and strife, Han shaped himself to be a man of action and not hesitation. It had been because of that attribute alone that the iron clad warrior managed to emerge victorious and alive from a great many battles.

Han spoke and the two before him gave each other a certain look, immediately leaping into opposite directions and becoming positioned for attack.

As the denial of Han's generous offer became evident, he seized the earliest opportunity for action where the others hesitated - the mistake. Having leapt away from one another, Han saw this as an opening and acted upon it accordingly. The men leapt in opposite directions, but how far and to what degree? In short, not far enough considering the lack of effort put into their own actions. The moment they moved, Han's right hand & arm vehemently swung heavenwards whilst releasing the Ninjaken from his nimble digits. With the cause being the movement of Han's arm, and the effect being that it launched towards the bender's partner. Han's aim was sharp, precise, and accurate, enough so that the sword had been thrown ahead of the mans path of likely travel as the two began to move in opposite directions. His goal, to merely send the tip of his ninjaken into the mans mid-section, home to the body's assortment of vital organs.

Simultaneously, Han bolted forward while arcing and curving (leftward) around towards the bender's righter-most flank, devouring that meager space of 3 meters with only a few brisk steps. The outcome, cutting the man off, meeting him where he would've stopped and attempted to move his arms to earth-bend. The end result, the interruption of the mans earth-bending.

Regardless, in a few moments from their separation, the more confident one, the earthbender, pulled his elbows back hard, fists clenching and then pushed them up.

By the time the bender pulled back his arm, Han had already closed the distance in full, so, presuming everything would've proceeded as he intended, a quick two finger jab antedated the thrusting of a punch that needed to gather power by "cocking back". The two fingers of his left hand aimed to strike pressure point along the side of the mans neck, temporarily stunning and paralyzing him. With his right hand free, two fingers were prepared as he readied himself to strike with.

[OOC: Regarding the positioning of the NPC's, they weren't really explained so i placed them myself. The bender facing hand and the bender's ally was to the left of the bender (i.e Han's right).

[Karura Kotoko]

The firebender saw it coming and bent backwards at the very last moment, having the ninjaken’s tip rip through the front of his clothes, narrowly missing slicing out his entrails. This guy hadn’t been kidding. He was set to kill them, for no reason he could see out of vigilante creed. They hadn’t even intended to murder the one they pursued, just knock them out, but now everything had changed and they were in peril from a murderer who moved like lightning’s shadow.

When the man leapt on his partner and subsequently interrupted his attack, the now terrified firebender impulsively shot two fire balls at the night terror while stumbling back, placing more distance between them, before finally running off. “This isn’t worth it!” He cried, real tears in his eyes as he went. Back with Han, the earthbender had gotten little chance to react, he tried to kick up a spear of ground to impale the approaching threat but was immobilized before he could finish the motion, his surprise at the other’s speed immense and soon to prove paralyzing.

For a few seconds, Karura stared at the unfolding battle, having thought to interfere but holding back, morbidly fascinated by the lone man’s skillful assault. She knew she should run, given that she had the chance, but the scene was too fun, albeit excessive. She disapproved of slaughter, when it could be avoided, and the swift figure seemed to be quite capable of dealing with the two before him however he chose. Her eyes had caught the aim of his blade, all too murderous, much too quick, as if he were a trained assassin ready to react with a mortal blow.

After the firebender attacked, that’s to say, right after Han leapt on his partner, Karura’s indecision shattered and she bolted towards the young man. He had tried a couple of hits before he ran, his legs filled with the speed of youth spent fleeing from trouble, his eyes trained ahead unthinking, unnoticing anything else but the path. She came from his side, passing by his back in the night, landing a blow on the back of his head as she went, precisely aimed at the softest spot.

As he fell forward, unconscious, and embraced the ground, she stopped. They were around 30 feet away from where the earthbender had sat. Her cloak billowed about her as she turned around, anticipating Han hadn’t been far behind the speedy youth she had intercepted through the opportunity of her position.

[OOC: Yeah, sorry about that. :P It'll work somehow, I suck at explaining battle timing, positions and distances >.>]

[Chen Han Wei]

The two fingers of his left hand aimed to strike pressure point along the side of the mans neck, temporarily stunning and paralyzing him.

That very strike proved to be no other than chi-blocking, which actually lived up to its name. Once the strike connected, Han knew he created an opening even larger than before, however, his chances at a follow-up attack were prolonged thanks to the bender's counterpart. Although Han hadn't been initially looking in that area, it was -without a doubt- remarkably dark, that said, the rustic flames generated enough light that it overwhelmed the darkness that surrounded the general area, causing it to momentarily retreat.

Just from the fiery hues alone, Han knew something was up as well as the direction in which it came from. Thereafter, with the same right hand that struck the bender's neck, a quick forward movement sent said hand past his neck where the wrist then twisted and cupped the back of the mans neck. Han pulled away at his body, forcefully forfeiting his balance as Han moved him around in a quarter circle directly in front of the incoming ball of fire.

Literally using him as a shield, the earth-bender's back conflagrated, burning and melting through his clothes and flesh. While not enough to immediately kill, it had been enough to cause a staggering amount of pain. Adding insult to injury, Han continued his original assault and struck the man center of the man's chest with the two fingers of his left hand followed by a strike to both rights with a right-left combo. Losing interest, Han stepped inwardly with his leading foot, pivoted, and delivered a spinning side kick straight into the mans stomach. Stunned, paralyzed, and unable to temporarily bend, it was safe to say that Han successfully reduced the man to nothing more than a useless vessel of meat. As the man folded and fell, Han came to an unusually calm stand as he faced the woman who decided to take action against the fleeing suspect. Standing roughly 10 meters (30ft) from her position, Han spoke with an irresistibly warm and inviting voice.

"It is in your best interest to not make the same mistake as they did. Now, Why were these two chasing you? "

[Karura Kotoko]

Screams came from the earthbender as he was dealt with, sharp at first and then just a gurgle, faint and weak and fading, until silence roamed again. If anyone had noticed from within the nearby dwellings, and indeed they had, no one thought of calling the police, for whoever chose to live here lived in dark and secrets. The winter or polar wolf kept up a low growl, his feral eyes surveying what they could beyond the gates that bound him until the fuss died out. All the sounds stopped at once and soon, all that could be heard was Han’s voice.

It had been out of no irresistible desire to strike him down that Karura had attacked the fleeing firebender, although she had experienced some pleasure from it. The man had sounded familiar, young, not out of his teens – her kindly neighbor’s son, and she expected he would not have gotten far even if she had let him free. What irony that they should meet in the dead of night, he had always seemed such an innocent sort. The only way to ensure his survival was this way, where he sat robbed of consciousness, a quiet but breathing lump on the sidewalk at her back. Or at least the most likely.

A partial mask was on her face now, covering her nose and mouth and when she looked from under her hood, a touch of moonlight was in her eyes and they were faintly smiling, ever cordial in face of certain danger. Han’s voice had a pleasant ring to it, delicious as poisoned wine, until you realized about the toxin.

“I fear I shall disappoint,” she said, he tone pleasant in turn though not as sweet, “for I require an answer to that myself.” She turned on one foot, lazily, and stepped away from the downed bender, beginning a purposefully slow walk that gravitated around Han. “However, my question is: who were you chasing?” And why. Everything about him was suspicious and every fiber of her being was tense, ready to react should talking fail and he should act.

[Chen Han Wei]

With her hood retracted as the moonlight shone down upon her, Han caught a fair and distinctive glimpse of the woman's eyes. During his misadventures and escapades, Han realized that ones emotions and inner thoughts lied not within the face, but with in the eyes alone. The eyes were capable of expressing any and all existing emotions without fail, better than any facial or body expression ever could. Nevertheless, as the woman's lips parted beneath her mask, she made it clear that she cared very little in making the wrong decision, even after witnessing the very tip of Han's combative iceberg. It wouldn't have been outlandish if the woman thought that he'd bolt forward and turn on her, however, he refused. At first glance it appeared as though he actually experienced hesitation, but hesitation was only made when one considered a specific course of action. In this case, Han held no desire to attack the woman, not even a sliver.

Han smiled and lightly chuckled as the woman flipped his question around and made it her own. His left hand came up and cupped the side of his waist as he humorously shook his head and sighed.

"Normally I'd be against all of this, but considering what you just went through, I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. Lets see, your answer will be as simple as this. I was chasing no one in particular, just happened to pass by and noticed a couple of impure souls roaming about."

In a flash, the smile across his face faded away like a passing wind. His eyes narrowed as he continued to look into her own, almost as if he'd been trying to burn a deep, gaping hole within her very soul.

"I've answered your question, now its only polite to answer mines in return. What reason did those trifling benders have to chase you so desperately."