The Silent War

[Nev]

[you wanna kill kari yes? and you ruined my plan.]

Kari heard the alarm, she was sure she had been careful. Was it Shai Tan, or Sanaki, no they were too skilled. Unless it was on purpose. Despite the conspiracy theory she still had a job to do.

'Dammit' Kari whispered to herself as she slunk into the shadows. She had just found a way in, and now it was chaos. Dogs barked, me shouted, feet made the wooden floor scream. The three knives were more essential, and the only way to get out of this was to get into the main building. A swift exchange of guards saw the main building more crowded, she would have to be the wolf amongst the rabbits. The water that had gathered underneath the house was now her weapon, she took a slim line streak of water and sliced the padlock that kept the grate shut. Kari waited for her opputunity.

Men ran above her, soon there was a tense atmosphere as groups of two searched the building. 'This is troublesome,' Kari thought, her original plan was to get one soldier on his own but that was shot down now. As two of them creeped across the grate she quickly formulated another plan. Kari opened the grate, quickly jumping out and climbing to a small dark alcove which ran along all of teh corridors. It was above the wall and was there for archetectural purpose, a great place to hide for a bit. A small creek alerted the two soldiers, something not planned but helpful. Using her bending she made sounds with the water under the floor, since the grate was open they would think someone was down there, hopefully. The two men approached the grate carefully.

"I ain't going down there, you can get that outta ya mind" One of them fearingly said, the other scoffed.

"Fine I will then, probably a mouse under there, the grate mighta fallen through due to all the stompin'" The other said, lowereing himself down into the ankle deep water.

The first soldier looked up, seeing the blue of Kari's Coat.

"LOOK UP..." The man's alert was cut short by a boot across the face. Kari slid off of the alcove and silently hit the floor again. She quickly twisted the water beneath the other soldiers feet, freezing it so he couldn't move, she next worked on silencing them. The man on teh floor was easy to kill, the kick had dazed him and it took a quick knife to the jugular to end his life. The one stuck in water was also easy to kill. Before he could shout Kari wrapped a piece of cloth around his mouth, temporarily gagging him. She then twisted his neck, breaking it with ease. She pushed his body into the water, freezing it to the muddy ground submerged in water. The other dead body would be used.

Kari dragged it into a small cupboard in the next corridor, she was rushing as another search party would be on it's way. Taking off the man's armour was her first objective, then to place it on herself. She finished dressing and hid her water tribe jacket. Placing her visor down she slid out of the corridor and made her way to where the general may be.

[Marik]

[[Eh, not kill, necessarily. Though if that happens, so be it.]]

Shai Tan pushed open the door to a nearby tea house and held it open for Sanaki, adopting the guise of a chivalrous friend. He pulled out a seat for her at one of the tables and then sat down himself.

"She has one hour," he said, peering at the paper menu that was laid out on the table. He really was not very fond of tea, but in order to have an excuse to stay in the house for an hour, he would drink it. "Jasmine, please," he told the young girl who came to take their orders, offering her a sweet smile.

I wonder if she's dead yet, he mused as he waited for Sanaki to place her order.

[Tera253]

Sanaki at down and ordered Jasmine Tea as well, being fond of it, and most other teas herself.

"and what then," she asked, "regardless of whether she succeeds or fails... the question still presents itself."

She shook her head slightly to remove some of her excess bangs from her face. She kept most of them back except for a few that she let hang in her face, and so this was typical.

"hopefully by then the rain will have stopped."

~Sanaki~

[Marik]

Shai Tan allowed a small smile to pull at the corner of his lips.

"If she fails, then we do it. Simple, really. If they catch and kill her, then we wait a few hours for things to calm down. They would not expect two assassins in the same night." As for the rain, he hoped that it stayed. He loved the rain, especially when he was working.

Their tea was brought out by the same girl, who placed the cups on the table with a bow and then returned to the kitchen. Shai Tan eyes his cup as though it had teeth. Gingerly, almost carefully, he picked it up and sipped the liquid. He closed his eyes for a moment in revulsion. "If she does not come back, then we will strike without ever being seen."

[Tera253]

Sanaki sipped her tea with her typical elegance.

"oh, I by no means think that this mission will fail," she remarked, "but if she does return? what then?"

~Sanaki~

[Marik]

"Then we congratulate her on a job well done and hope that she realizes that we can kill her whenever we chose. Perhaps she will be more respectful or perhaps she will warrant being killed. Either way, we win." He set his tea cup back down on the table and looked out the door into the rainy streets beyond.

This was, by no means, one of his more elaborate schemes, but it was a good one and, so far, it was working perfectly.

[Tera253]

"very well then," Sanaki replied.

"...as long as I can stay out of most of this blasted rain."

she scowled, knowing how Shai Tan would likely react to this. By this time, she wasn't too concerned, and the scowl was just for effect.

~Sanaki~

[Marik]

Shai Tan actually almost chuckled at Sanaki's annoyed expression. Anyone else, he just might have killed for looking at him like that, but from her he found it strangely entertaining.

"Well, I doubt that Kari is causing the storm anymore, so it will dissipate in due time," he said as he returned his blue-eyed gaze to her. "In the mean time, we can wait it out here. Also wait to see if she comes back from my little trap."

[Nev]

After a series of right turns and left turns she found her way to where the most of the guards were concentrated, a room full of men with swords was behind a screen door, there was apparently one way in and one way out, but if that was true they all wouldn't need to be in there. She kept one hand on the sword which the soldier had and made her way in. They all waited, each in the same position of drawn sword or hand on the hilt, Kari felt nervous but knew she had to do this.

She got to the middle and assumed a position, she had tucked her hair into her undershirt so it was fine, no one would know she was a woman. She looked down, her heart beating as she was a wolf in sheeps clothing, and then she saw it, the ripple of water which had accumalated under the floor boards. She was happy she may have been outnumbered but underneath her a large weapon layed dormant, with out a seconds thouh she started bending. She used minimal movements to try and find a secret room, exploring below the house to find a inconsistency in the length of a room or to find an escape route. Her hands dragged the water around, she didn't find any yet but kept looking, hopefully no one was watching.

[Tera253]

"your little trap," Sanaki remarked, "you really have no shame, do you?"

she chuckled at her own remark. her spirits seemed to be lightning with the storm.

regardless, she still detested getting wet, and would likely refuse to leave if leaving would result in a wet Sanaki.

~Sanaki~

[Marik]

"Shame is for those who believe that they have done wrong," Shai Tan answered simply. He glanced outside at the abating storm and sighed. He really did enjoy working in the rain as it only made his bending that much more effective.

He leaned back and cupped his hands behind his head. He imagined that the complex must be fairly swarming with guards by now. How will the little assassin get out of this one? he thought smugly. At best, she comes out of it stronger and still with newly acquired respect for Shai Tan and his talents and ruthlessness. At worst, she came out looking for a fight which would not be a problem either since she would be tired and weary from running about and bending so much while he had been resting quite comfortably in this tea house. Of course, the other possible preferred outcome was that she did not come out at all.

[Tera253]

Sanaki noticed Shai Tan's glance at the rain. From here, she simply knew him too well.

"if you want to go fight out in the rain, there's nothing holding you back, you know. granted, I won't be with you, but tell me being alone has stopped you before, and I'll show you a Zelgius Sanaki that's been outwitted."

She closed her eyes and leaned back, yawning. She was not going to sleep, but she was goin to relax.
~Sanaki~

[Nev]

"Hey what you doing" A soldier said, his sword drawn and his nerves on edge, his eyes fixed on Kari ready to jump to conclusions. The conclusions would have been right but that had no place here. Kari quickly started moving herself, she first bended the water onto the wood she was standing on, her bending flash froze the small patch she was stood on. She didn't like disguises and impersonating, she would just kill them instead. 'Her' sword sliced through the nervous man's neck.

Her foot stomped on the brittle ice beneath her, allowing her to slip underneath the large building again, the guards around her only saw her hair as her helmet flew off. In a crouched position she bended the water left from the rain that had now dissapeared. She sharpened the ends of the waterm seperated them into small shards and shot them upwards into the skin of the soldiers above her. There were alot still left after the groans of pain had stopped. Kari ran forwards, drawing water behind her, she jumped up and burst from the floor, bringing the slightly muddied water with her. As she hit the floor she sent a wave of water out at the surprised soldier. It knocked them back, some were sent into the corridor through the paper doors. The small puddles on the floor were surffice weapins and as Kari ran forward she waterbended the puddles to kill the remaining soldiers. She thinned the water into thin slices which cut through the vital skin she could hit. Their bodies hit the floor. Her blade also cut through the bodies of the soldiers, but her waterbending was much quicker. After dancing around the blades of the surviving soldiers, she got caught a few times but was able to damage the culprit tenfold.

She breathed heavily as teh last man was slained. She hadn't killed all of them as some of them had run away but the black cloth across her mouth and nose hif her identity. Kari looked around, she hadn't found the general but the barrier around the building she had set with rain would alert her to any escapees at this moment. Her hand dropped the blade that she did not favor, her own knife was a better killer. she collected some water in her left hand, freezing it so she could carry the source of water easily.

A footstep....

The barrier outside was disturbed, a small stream that enclosed the building was stepped in, someone was escaping and it sounded like it was the general, a small platoon trampelled through a second after. Kari dashed outside, using a window to get out of the building easily. Her legs had a burst of speed and she sprinted towards the small group she could see infront of her. With another leap she broke the sphere and blasted the sharp ice towards the left over soldiers. She killed them all except for the plump general, he didn't look worthy to die for but the soldiers had no choice, the general shifted the earth so that the men were in the way. The slightly plum coloured man panted for air, Kari smiled, this would be easy. She bended more water into another long javelin of ice and sent it flying towards her target, he didn't move, he couldn't, his un atheletic build made him unable to move an inch after running away. The ice travelled towards the general but was stopped.

A large flame burst upwards and destroyed the javelin. A man stood next to the general, he hadn't been there before. He had a rapier in one hand, the other had a ball of fire waiting to singe Kari's skin.