[Kaikuro] Game of Life

[Karura Kotoko]

Evening bathed Republic City in shades of orange, the weary sun slowly getting swallowed by the far horizon. People, young and old, small and tall, were pooling out of the station with every tram, coming from work and training and wherever else. Karura stalked down the street with apparently aimless calm, her cat like steps in contrast to the tired crawl of working men. In her pocket a clock was ticking, keeping her aware of the passing of moments, of the gentle and irreversible pace of life. It was in moments like these that she felt out of place. Walking against the tide of people, sashaying through the wave, her perception aware of everyone as a whole.

A mother chastising her son for being rude while gallantly apologizing to a man, slowly alienating her adolescent son, a thin beauty of around twenty striding with the confidence of someone who had never known despair, a pair of old people on a bench, between them a game of pai sho, an angry young man with bloodshot eyes who would have barreled right into Karura had she not been aware of all of these things at once, and sidestepped it with purposeful grace, all played on the scene before her. In a world of players, she was one of the sharp pieces that stood out, never quite watching the others but the game at large, in her arrogance feeling closer to the creator for it.

But she was not alone and she constantly sought the others, her eyes thirsty to see people who walked this same path. Straight ahead, a man dressed in blue rimmed with white, casual as a greeting but deliberate as a snake, watched her back from behind shaded eyes. When their paths crossed she faintly smiled, taking the pocket-size parcel from his hand and replacing it with an envelope, both walking on as if no exchange had been done. Now she had the final material she needed for her newest project.

Walking on she headed for a less taken route, mainly because it passed through a small gang’s tiny territory. It was funny, how the small fish tried to thrive.

[Kaikuro]

The cacophony of the city roared around him, a city both alive and dead at once, at peace and at war. Kaikuro walked slowly down a sidewalk, his senses assaulted from every direction, as it was every moment of every day as he lived in Republic City. Returning from his part-time job at a shoe factory, he kept his gaze to the streets he had walked a thousand times, waiting for his weary feet to bring him to his tiny home nestled away in a neglected part of town.

He was ill. This fact was unlikely to elude those who saw the man: his face was gaunt, his cheeks sunken, and his clothes hung loosely about his small and skeletal frame. He was no Bender, a fact that made him all the more vulnerable to the struggling world he lived in. This fact alone made it all the more difficult for him to find a sustaining job in Republic City, but it could be worse. It always could be worse.

If there was anything Kaikuro learned in his life, it was this: There was no such thing as rock bottom.

An unnerving sound tore him from his thoughts. He stopped in his tracks and jerked his head to one side. Police sirens. They were coming this way. They were probably investigating something, but Kaikuro wasn’t going to take any chances if they saw him.

Heedless of the path he chose, Kaikuro bolted into a dark alley, narrowly dodged trash cans and stepped over puddles in the street as he broke into a new block of town. He kept going down the street until he was out of sight of the police cars. He slowed his pace, however, when he realized how unfamiliar the place was. Squinting and hugging his arms against his scrawny ribcage, he swallowed and looked about the area nervously.

“Mmm, what do we have here? Fresh meat…” A dark figure stepped out from nearby, tossing a flame between his hands as though it were a ball. “Naiyu, look how tiny he is!”

A smaller, female figure, followed behind him, grinning. “He’s so cute.”

Chillbumps pricked Kaikuro’s flesh. He stopped in his tracks and lifted his head. “I d-don’t have any money. I’m sorry.”

That didn’t seem to deter them. They came closer. “Well, that’s too bad. See, this is Storm’s territory… and if you wanna pass through here, you gotta pay toll.” The male said, the flame in his hands growing bolder and brighter.

“I’ll j-just go back then… I d-don’t have money…” Kaikuro took a step backwards. He struggled to keep the fear from his eyes. He was in no position to fear for his life, anyway.

“I’m sure he’s got something on him, Sagu. Some sort of pocket change.” The girl spoke. “Come on. Pay up, skeleton.”

“I’m s-sorry, I don’t have anything…” Kaikuro responded again, his back stiffening all the more. “If you g-give me some time, I c-c-can pay you later and – AH!” He smacked his hand to his smoking shoulder, feeling the sizzling pain of fire nipping at his flesh.

“Aren’t you gonna fight back, Skeleton?” Another flame surged towards his chest. He would’ve dodged, but it was impossible. The flames struck him, nearly setting his clothes ablaze. He staggered backwards.

“I don’t think he’s a Bender!”

“You’re right, he’s not…”

Another blast nearly set his hair ablaze. The scrawny man toppled to the street. With luck, he landed right next to a puddle of water. He rolled into it, trying to soak his clothes, his skin, trying to protect himself from the gang…

[Karura Kotoko]

Karura was coming from behind, her quiet steps planting to the rhythm of her pulse. Dressed in black and navy clothes, tight fitting her slender but athletic build, she would have blended into the darkness, if not for her uncovered head, too white cheeked and light haired to hide. Her eyes were sharp and attentive, like a cobra’s, ready to strike at the slightest provocation from the shadows on her sides. She didn’t know the name of the one who claimed this territory, but she knew it was under reservation, thrill rising in her chest as she considered a potential confrontation.

Wrapping along a bend, she came into a tighter alley, her eyes falling on an ongoing exchange. A woman and a man, clearly benders from the new gang that hadn’t been flushed out by the police yet, were bullying the thinnest man in Republic City by the looks of his silhouette. Creeping closer, Karura watched, keeping to the shroud of darkness as if the alley was her domain to sneak through. A blast of fire hit the tiny man, making his scream sound. Karura could hear them now, the mocking tone of the other female playing over the walls, her flames dancing forward from her arms to further bully the thin man.

As he staggered backwards, Karura crept forward, cloaking herself in the same shadows they had used, more quiet than a mouse. Their words made darkness fill her eyes. Benders who prayed on the weak, not of their kind, were the reason she knew how to fight. As another shot of flame sent the weak man to the ground, Karura came from behind, in two long, swift paces right by the man’s back, the blunt of the dagger she had pulled from her belt hitting him in the soft of the head, sending him crumbling forward.

“Oh dear, I think he tripped,” she observed, an ill willed smile in her tone and shining in her eyes. Stepping back into a fighting stance, she eyed the woman. “Leave the poor guy alone honey, don’t you see he doesn’t want to dance?” She thrust the dagger back into a tiny sheath on her belt, then made inviting gestures with her hands. “But I do.”

Not sparing the skinny man the briefest glance, she focused her attention on the other female. Not without fear, she waited for her challenge.

[Kaikuro]

The man, Sagu, dropped like a rock. The woman, Naiyu, watched in horror as the woman seemed to come out of nowhere, slipping into the scene and sending her partner crashing with one solid blow from her dagger’s hilt. Her look of shock, however, morphed into a snarl. She didn’t say a word, didn’t waste another moment. She readied her stance and drove her fists forward, sending blast after blast of flaming projectiles rocketing towards the newcomer. If Karura would move, she would try to follow her with each progressing blast of fire.

Kaikuro twisted in the puddle, slowly rising to his knees as he watched the newcomer come. His heart jumped and his pulse quickened. He scrambled to his feet, crying, “H-hey! S-s… stop! D-… don’t!”

He wasn’t going to watch this woman get hurt for his sake. And he didn’t want these thieves hurt, either. He scrambled to the downed man and grabbed his limp arm with both hands, struggling to drag him away from the source of the chaos so he wouldn’t get hit with collateral damage. Kaikuro was barely strong enough to be capable of the feat. He dug his heels into the pavement and began dragging the unconscious man, then turned him to check his head for any significant injuries.

The whole show might’ve looked absurd to Karura if she was paying attention to it. Kaikuro was obviously worried about the health of his attacker. When he was assured that the injuries were not too bad, he relaxed and returned his attention to the fight that was breaking out nearby, worried for the fate of his would-be savior and the mugger that assaulted her.

[Karura Kotoko]

Firebenders were famous for their raging tempers and this woman was no exception, without even assessing her target, starting a barrage of attacks. Calm and calculated, Karura dodged, fluidly dancing right and left and to the ground, hot flame singing stray hairs from main strands. This was good, she was lucky, the woman had no strategy but shoot the moving target. Finding some time to bring out a hair tie between apparently narrow escapes from the other woman’s hot attacks, she wove her mane of hair into the quickest messy bun, to make sure it stayed out of harm’s way.

When she was done, she noticed the frail man dragging the unconscious lump of bending bravado away from the battle. What a considerate victim. Before she had knocked him out she had delighted in having a brief fantasy that involved snapping his neck, but murder was more frequently in her visions that it ever was in her actions. Karura took in a deep breath as she twisted to the side, bending away from another blast of flame, then suddenly, when next she dodged she did so while advancing forward. One, two, three attacks, she wove through them all, pacing closer and closer until she caught the next attack with her own hand, slapping the woman’s wrist to redirect it and quickly poking two spots on her arm with her other hand.

Rolling to the side to avoid a whip of flame Naiyu conjured with her other hand, she took advantage of the woman’s moment of surprise when her previous hand failed to produce more flame when came its turn. Quickly on her other side, Karura hit spots across her other arm, rendering her flameless from the waist up.

“Now you only have half of your unfair advantage,” she commented, stepping back and walking in a circling fashion. Still lacking words, but quickly becoming desperate, Naiyu dropped back on her arms, kicking flame from her feet instead, the arches of heat coming as waves, expansive and grand. Karura leapt over the first, took the second on her lower back, the force kicking the air out of her lungs but clothes failing to ignite, and ended up beside the woman, grabbing her by the arm and tugging, adding her weight into hoisting her up and pulling her into a spin that drove her into a wall she quickly raised her hands to keep from flattening her face against.

Facing the firebender’s back, Karura brought up her handy dagger and with her same earlier precision, hit the spot that sent the woman tumbling down, unconscious. Without acknowledging the sore spot on her back, she walked over to the two men, her dagger once more replanted on her belt, hand coming up to undo her hair and let it coat her back and shoulders.

“You should get out of the alley before more of them arrive,” she said, her tone monotonous and eyes lazy as she glided past. “Within this alley, in dark and shadow fools reside, but these fools have numbers on their side.” Her eyes glinted a little, cold ice blue smiling at Kaikuro for the duration of a glance. With that, she seemed to turn to go. Those numbers would quickly notice their friends were missing.

[Kaikuro]

Kaikuro watched his rescuer dance, avoiding the surge of fireballs as though she had done it a million times. He stood locked in place, floored by the furious grace of the battle he was witnessing. He could feel the heat in the air from the flames that Naiyu shot in every direction, struggling to catch at least a hair off of the woman.

It was not long before her true talent became clear to Kaikuro: Chi-blocking. A few quick jabs to certain points on the Firebender’s body left her breathless, helpless, her arms falling limp at her sides. Her snarl became downright animalistic as she dropped to the ground, desperately using her feet to strike her attacker. Only once did she succeed, and the rush of adrenaline she received from the success was short-lived.

Before she knew it, she was crushed against a wall, completely at the mercy of the furious Chi-blocker. Her consciousness was gone in an instant, and her body slumped against the wall, sliding until she was lying across the ground. Kaikuro cringed when he saw her fall, though he couldn’t bring himself to get closer and assess the damage. His heart was still thudding, his vision pounding as he tried to catch his breath. All the stress was making him feel sick.

Though the danger was averted, Kaikuro still felt the strain of the situation weighing down on him. He felt as though he might collapse. The woman didn’t even seem the slightest bit phased! When she turned and spoke to him, her words at first went in one ear and out the other. He just stared, dumbfounded. Before long, she turned and began to leave before he even had a chance to speak.

“…W-wait… Wait…” He sputtered, following Karura. He hugged his arms to his chest, trying to stave off a chill that surged through his soaked body. His wet clothes were beyond uncomfortable and smelled rank, but he couldn't complain. “That was… t-… that was… impressive… I… w-w-wait, I haven’t … I haven’t had a chance to thank you…”

He turned to look over his shoulder at the bodies they left behind. He considered finding an ambulance or something, but he decided, in the end, they would be found by the rest of their gang soon enough, and they wouldn’t be left to wake up alone and hurting. The glance was all he spared them as he tried to keep up with Karura. “What’s your n-n-name…? I’m Kai…”

[Karura Kotoko]

Her heart pounded on the inside, every fiber of her being tense. Pain shot through her lower back and there would be a dark bruise to sport for many weeks to come. None of this showed in her walk, her fluid gestures, her simple expression. Learning how to appear strong even when your body was going through weakness or suffering was a card Karura had planted in her frequent use deck long ago. It made her invincible even if she was on the brink of collapse, truly believing it and thus strangely empowered by the thought, as if her decision to be so alone could make reality accept it without doubt.

She was about to go, return to her lone walk, a creature from a different world that always had on an act, unlike the visibly emotional and grandly expressive, thin man, when he called her attention back. She paused dead in her tracks, looking over her shoulder, examining him from the corner of a cold eye. He looked like death itself made home near his back, breathing down obscenities from beyond that nested on his very heart, tempting him towards misfortune. Shorter than her and pale of sickness, with added damage from the assault, she was surprised he was still living.

He praised her skill and thanked her actions and she finally turned back, one hand on her belt. “Nonsense, I didn’t leave nearly fast enough for you to not see, and grasp, a chance.” She spoke quickly this time, her tone firmer, more direct, the speech of a confident orator. With staring eyes during the brief pause, she took in all the aspects of his face, then turned again, continuing to walk as he padded after her, informing of his name. It didn’t seem like she was going to get away with ease.

“Karura,” she offered back, looking right and left as they passed the street. “What sort of foolishness leads a man into dark alleys when he can do little else but stand up?” She glanced to him briefly, momentarily pressed by curiosity. She noted a smell, none too pleasant. All in all he appeared more or less a beggar, especially because of his extreme slimness. When they came to the street beyond she whipped out a silver pocket-clock, decorated with small blue gems. “So much to do, so little time,” she spoke the cliché to herself, stuffing the time keeper back in her pocket, next to the little box she had acquired earlier.

“Well, Kai. I’m on my way to dinner. Join me if you wish, and I’ll treat you to what you like, but only if you’ll tell me of your life.” She gave him a little thoughtful look. "But first, we need to get you some fresh clothes."

[Kaikuro]

In normal situations, Kai was a very observant man. Despite Karuka’s well-trained attempts to hide the pain in her spine, he may have noticed some form of stiffness in her otherwise rigid and confident form. Unfortunately, Kai was a little worse for the wear at the present. At least, more than usual. He didn’t notice how uncomfortable the woman was, and all he saw was what she intended to show him: her rather strong and confident surface.

He kept following her as she spoke to him, hoping he wasn’t bothering her with his presence; she was obviously heading somewhere and he didn’t want to disturb her for much longer. Wringing his hands nervously and still trying to catch his breath and still his rapid pulse, he looked up at her and spoke, “I… I w-was trying t-t-to take a short-cut,” He replied. It wasn’t a complete lie. No, it was true… just not the whole truth. There was no reason for her to know the whole truth.

When she looked at her silver pocket-watch, Kaikuro considered it was a hint. He stopped walking and cleared his throat uncomfortably, “Ahh… d-d-do forgive me. I… I d-didn’t know you were so busy, I j-just… I wanted to thank you. I’d h-h-hate for you to leave without… s-some manner of compensation, I j-just… I have nothing to give you in return…”

When she returned the pocketwatch to its rightful place and addressed him once more, he swallowed hard and shook his head. He hadn’t eaten in a while, but he would rather starve than further inconvenience her. “Ah-… it’s… it’s v-v-very kind of you to offer, b-but I’d h… I’d hate to take more from you. You’re b-busy and I r-r-really don’t wish to cost you any more expenses. You’ve d-done enough for me as it is.” Some selfish part of him wanted her to insist, but he quickly hammered that thought down. He had no reason to be treated to anything, and he shouldn’t think of himself worthy enough to desire any form of comfort.

He tugged at his wet clothes, feeling a blush flood into his cheeks and ears. He gave her as reassuring of a smile as he could, raising his hand and trying to politely turn her down, “It’s alright… I’ve… I’ve g-g-got something to change into at h-home…” Granted, he owned nothing comfortable and this was his best attire. Somewhere in him, he didn’t look forward to returning to his rugged mess of an apartment. And he still had quite a while to walk. It would’ve been easier to take some sort of bus or taxi, but he didn’t have the money for it. He was much too poor to ever think of buying new clothes, and he wasn’t comfortable with the thought of a stranger spending so much on him.

[Karura Kotoko]

A shortcut he informed and she thought it was not what she had asked. She had wondered about the nature of his drive, be it madness or stupidity, and not its motivation, but saw it unnecessary to clarify. When he stopped, so did she, by reflex if nothing else. Her eyebrow rose minimally as he stammered, eyes somewhat wider from the impromptu surprise. “I’m not busy, just naturally active.” She lived in motion, always breezed from one place to the next, from one activity to another. It was the way her brain was wired, to work only in action and sleep when probed by nothing.

She waved a hand dismissively at his latter comment, a lopsided grin making its way on her face, her eyes keen and tone somewhat lower. “Do I look like a person in need of rewards?” Life had gifted her with looks and health and opportunities, showering her in love and chance, even if it had claimed a price, one very dear, the memory of which could easily wipe away her good disposition. She chose not to remember, not today.

Her gaze, scrutinizing, was trained on his expression. Swallowing his true desires, he shook his head and she suppressed the grin she wished to spread over her face, instead just remaining friendly and openly inviting. “What if I really want to? Would you deprive me of the pleasure?” Her eyebrow rose, questioningly. Modesty and thoughtfulness were charming and had their place, but Karura easily preferred people who bluntly expressed what they wanted, or at least graciously accepted what they needed. He looked so thin she wouldn’t believe he ever ate with luxury or constancy even.

He seemed embarrassed and she understood. It wasn’t easy to be the one in debt, especially when you couldn’t hope to pay it any time soon, but that wasn’t how the situation played. “I wasn’t gifting you with charity, I was proposing an exchange,” she informed, within the expanse of a few steps coming by his side, leaning towards him minimally so that there was absolutely no height difference. Something in her eyes was smiling in a subtle playful way. “I treat you with items and you give me words, of old or new, bad or good, fancy or plain.” She would have poked his nose lightly if he didn’t sketch a gesture of displeasure at the incoming touch, in which case she would have refrained.

Before he could answer, she walked away, returning to her previous position, a few feet ahead. She tugged at the end of one of her long gloves, drawing it nearer to the elbow for it had slightly strayed down. Her eyes were sharp as she looked into the distance. “I’m interested in people. There’s no better gift to give than one’s thoughts and experience.”

[Kaikuro]

Kaikuro watched her quietly as she spoke. At last, some manner of scrutiny returned to the thin man’s countenance. As the shock of the situation wore away, his observant nature began to poke its way out of dark recesses of his stressed mind. He looked up and down, from the woman’s boots up to her eyes. She bore cold, blue eyes. He wondered, then, how many stories they’ve seen, how many experiences this person survived. She couldn’t have learned to fight like that for no reason. He was left wondering what sort of motivations she had, what drove her to be the way she was.

He found no answers in her eyes, but he couldn’t help thinking that she had pretty ones. A cold blue, as watchful as his own. He trained himself on reading the expressions of other people. He always tried to discern what kind of person someone was based on their appearance, the way they carried themselves, the way they spoke. Karura, however, remained an enigma to him.

He listened to her and reached up his hand to scratch at his unshaven chin. “Do I look like a person in need of rewards?” She asked, and he simply shook his head. When she looked down at him, he felt as though she found him amusing. “What if I really want to? Would you deprive me of the pleasure?” Kaikuro chuckled weakly, scratching at the back of his head, his fingers working through his long, dark hair. ”I c-can’t stop you… if you want to… b-but I don’t feel completely comfortable with it.”

“I wasn’t gifting you with charity,” she had said, “I was proposing an exchange.”

When she knelt down to look him in the eyes, he couldn’t help but to feel as though she was being a little patronizing, He recoiled ever so slightly, tilting his back. He was smiling, though it was an uncomfortable one, wide enough to show off his somewhat crooked teeth. A dent formed between his brows.

“I treat you with items and you give me words, of old or new, bad or good, fancy or plain.”

When she began to walk away, he followed, wringing the rank water from his scarf and grimacing with every step he took, feeling his wet socks squish around in his shoes. It was an immensely uncomfortable feeling. “I’m interested in people. There’s no better gift to give than one’s thoughts and experience.” She said, and Kaikuro swallowed hard.

“V-very well, ah… if … s-s-such words are of that much value to you, then… I’ll d-d-do what I can to compensate in a manner in which you f-f-find satisfactory.” He couldn’t help but to feel a little apprehensive of what, exactly, the woman would want from him. What sorts of words was she expecting? And how many questions was she going to ask him? What if she worked for the police?

I can’t complain too much. If I’m going to get caught, it’ll happen eventually… and if fate wants me, I should stop trying to run away.